A variety of packages, including dispensing packages or containers, have been developed for personal care products such as shampoo, lotions, etc., as well as for other materials. Such containers typically have a neck defining an open upper end on which is mounted a dispensing closure. One type of dispensing closure for these kinds of containers has a flexible, pressure-openable, self-sealing, slit-type dispensing valve mounted in the closure over the container opening. When the container is squeezed, the valve slits open, and the fluid contents of the container are discharged through the open slits of the valve. The valve automatically closes to shut off fluid flow therethrough upon removal of the increased pressure.
Designs of closures using such valves are illustrated in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,271,531 and 5,033,655. Typically, the closure includes a body mounted on the container neck to hold the valve over the container opening.
A lid can be provided for covering the valve during shipping and when the container is otherwise not in use. See, for example, FIGS. 31-34 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,531. Such a lid can be designed to prevent leakage from the valve under certain conditions. The lid can also keep dust and dirt from the valve and/or can protect the valve from damage.
A dispensing closure incorporating such a pressure-openable valve provides advantages not found in other types of dispensing closures. For example, another common type of dispensing closure has a base defining a dispensing orifice which is normally occluded by a closed lid having a plug which enters into, and seals, the orifice. The lid must be lifted open to permit the product to be dispensed through the closure orifice. The lid must be manually closed after dispensing the product in order to permit the container to be carried or moved in any position other than a non-vertical position. Further, the lid must be closed in order to minimize evaporation or drying out of the product within the container. Also, the lid must be closed in order to prevent contaminants from entering the container.
Other types of dispensing closures include lift-up spouts or rotatable valve members. These features must be manipulated by the user when it is desired to open a dispensing passage and must be manipulated by the user when it is desired to close the dispensing passage.
With the above-discussed conventional types of dispensing closures that do not incorporate a pressure-openable valve, it may be possible to store the container with the closure thereon in an inverted position (with the dispensing closure at the bottom) so as to maintain the container product near the dispensing passage or orifice. This may be advantageous when the product is a rather viscous liquid because, when the inverted dispensing closure is opened, the product is already located at the dispensing passage or orifice and the dispensing time is minimized.
However, while the inverted storage of such a dispensing closure and container may speed dispensing of a viscous product, this can result in creating a rather messy condition at or around the dispensing closure passage or orifice. For example, with conventional dispensing closures that have a lid plug sealingly occluding a dispensing orifice in a closure base, inverted storage causes the inner end of the lid plug to be coated with the product. When the lid is opened, the product on the end of the plug is carried with the plug along the surface of the orifice. Some of the product sticks to the surface of the orifice and/or adjacent exterior edges of the closure base around the orifice. Some of the product also sticks to the lid plug. When the lid is subsequently closed after dispensing the product, the product on the lid plug and around the closure base orifice can create a messy condition around the exterior edge of the dispensing orifice. With the dispensing closure in the closed condition, the product around the exterior of the dispensing orifice can dry out and become somewhat hardened or encrusted during a subsequent period of non-use. This is not only aesthetically unpleasant, but it can inhibit the easy opening of the lid during subsequent use.
A pressure-openable dispensing valve advantageously eliminates or minimizes some of the above-discussed problems. Because such a valve does not have to be directly manipulated to effect its opening or closing, the user merely needs to squeeze the container to effect dispensing of the container product. Although such a simple squeezing action is generally required for dispensing a product, especially a viscous product, through any type of dispensing closure, the use of a pressure-openable valve in a dispensing closure eliminates the need to also initially, manually manipulate a finger-operable valve, spout, or lid employed with other types of conventional closures.
Because a closure with a pressure-openable dispensing valve remains closed unless the container is squeezed, the lid, if one is provided, can be left in the full open position after the consumer opens the lid for the first time. Further, the closure and container can be inverted for storage (with the dispensing closure and valve at the bottom) and with the lid fully open. Product does not leak through such a valve, and there is little or no mess on the exterior of the valve or surrounding closure surfaces.
Further, the use of a pressure-openable valve permits more accurate control of the dispensing process. Because the pressure-openable valve typically has a relatively thin membrane in which the dispensing slots are defined, there is no long orifice or passage through which the product must pass prior to discharge from the dispensing closure. Thus, the product discharges from the dispensing closure through such a pressure-openable valve relatively quickly and in substantially direct response to squeezing forces applied to the container which are readily sensed by the user as the user squeezes the container. The user has a more accurate "feel" of the relationship between the container squeezing force and the discharging product as the user squeezes the container.
Further, because the pressure-openable valve membrane defining the dispensing aperture slits is relatively thin, and because the valve can be positioned in the dispensing closure at, or very near, the most exterior surface of the closure, the user can readily observe the valve and its dispensing slits. Thus, the user can easily see the product being discharged, and the user can more readily determine how hard to squeeze the container and when to terminate the squeezing of the container.
While dispensing closures with pressure-openable dispensing valves function generally satisfactorily in applications for which they are designed, it would be desirable to provide an improved dispensing system incorporating such pressure-openable valves. With some products, it is desirable to provide some form of air-tight barrier protection to prevent discoloration or spoilage of the product. Thus, it would be desirable to provide an improved dispensing structure incorporating a dispensing valve with a barrier film or liner. It would also be advantageous to provide an improved system for opening a barrier or liner in the dispensing structure. Such an improved system should preferably not require the user to first remove a portion of the structure in order to gain access to the barrier or liner.
It would also be beneficial if such an improved dispensing structure could be easily operated to open the barrier or liner in a way that would not generate separate waste materials which would have to be handled by the consumer and discarded separately from the dispensing structure or container.
Additionally, it would be desirable to provide such an improved dispensing system with means for readily indicating to the consumer that the dispensing structure has been initially opened or tampered with.
It would also be beneficial if such an improved dispensing system could accommodate the use of a variety of valve materials in conjunction with a variety of different valve support body materials.
It would also be desirable to provide such an improved dispensing system with a design that could accommodate storage of the container and dispensing structure in an inverted (upside down) position wherein the dispensing system supports the container. This would be especially useful for maintaining the fluid product at the dispensing orifice so that, when the dispensing structure is opened, the product could be readily discharged without having to wait for the fluid product to flow downwardly toward the dispensing orifice.
Also, it would be desirable if such an improved dispensing system could be provided with a design that would accommodate efficient, high quality, large volume manufacturing techniques with a reduced product reject rate.
Further, such an improved dispensing system should advantageously accommodate its use with a variety of conventional containers having a variety of conventional container finishes, such as conventional threaded or snap-fit attachment configurations.
The present invention provides an improved dispensing structure which can accommodate designs having the above-discussed benefits and features.